My Top Two Choices for Natal Regionals and Why

Hello all PokeBeach readers! Gabriel Semedo here again with another Pokémon TCG article and this time I’m going to talk about my two main picks to use in the Natal Regional in Brazil.

I know that this format is already at an end and no one can stand to see Lugia VSTAR anymore, but I believe that little by little the format has found a balance, and new decks have begun to stand out in addition to Lugia VSTAR, Mew VMAX, Regigigas and Lost Box, such as Hisuian Goodra VSTAR and Vikavolt V / Raikou V. Lugia VSTAR remains the best deck in the format, but any of the other six decks above are plausible choices to use competitively. Depending on the metagame you’re targeting, there’s one choice that’s better suited than the other.

Regionals in Brazil are not as common as they are in the United States; we only have three Regionals per season, so each Regional is valuable for Brazilian players. My choices for the regionals have changed a lot since the beginning of my preparation, but now in the final stretch, I’ve managed to reduce it to two options. I still can’t say which of the options I like the most, and I still have a few days to choose, so I decided to write today’s article highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of both of these decks.

Why should you play Lugia VSTAR?

Lugia VSTAR has been called the best deck in the format because it achieves excellence in the three main factors that make up a successful deck; strength, consistency, and metagame position. The strength of the deck is way above average, with incredible attacks from Amazing Yveltal, Amazing Raikou and Stoutland V. The deck’s consistency also stands out, because it’s a deck that does a lot with only a little. Simply attach a Capture Energy to find Amazing Yveltal, accelerate four Special Energy from the deck with Archeops, and Knock Out a Duraludon VMAX. In other words, with only a Capture Energy you do what many decks can’t do in an entire game. Lugia VSTAR’s weakest point is the metagame, and I wouldn’t even say it’s a weak point, as the deck has an answer for almost everything.

An Answer For Everything

The deck has the best attacks in the game and they are solutions to all problems in the metagame. Amazing Raikou hits for a relevant Weakness, with an attack that hits the Bench, so if your opponent has no Manaphy they will be punished. Stoutland V is always good for taking a KO on any single Prize Pokémon with 100HP or less. Then there’s Amazing Yveltal which can Knock Out any Pokemon, even if it has 600HP. If you think about it, the damage and effects are so powerful that almost nothing can stop them.

It Beats Random Decks

A player who is not using Lugia VSTAR only causes problems for a good Lugia VSTAR player if they are prepared for this matchup, but any list that’s a little less focused on beating Lugia VSTAR isn’t going to be able to contain the strength of the deck. Lugia VSTAR is one of the most successful decks in the game’s history and needs to take this matchup with respect. When you train a lot with friends who don’t play Lugia VSTAR, you tend to want to adapt your deck to beat specific matchups like Goodra VSTAR or Mew VMAX, therefore, during preparation, it’s important that you never lose sight of the metagame and what are in fact the strongest and most successful decks. At this point, coaching sessions with prepared players are good, because it’s neutral training, with quality gameplay and focused on the competitive metagame.

It is worth remembering that it is normal in a tournament to face decks that are not in Tier One of the metagame, such as Arceus VSTAR variants, Kyurem VMAX, or any other deck that were successful in the past or that at some point showed competitive potential. That’s great for Lugia VSTAR, as many of the Tier Two decks are only there because they simply can’t beat Lugia VSTAR. Many of the decks that manage to beat Lugia VSTAR end up going to Tier One.

This concludes the public portion of this article.

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